Stolen Shadows of Dusk

Wex

Half-Elf Urban Ranger

Description:

Bio:

Weladrel Edlon Xanthes the second, Wex for short, is a half-elf ranger living in Westcrown. His human mother Eliza met Wex’s father, Weladrel Edlon Xanthes the first, in the tavern where she was a barmaid. She found the elf “the most attractive creature she had ever seen”, Eliza was a beauty herself, and one thing led to another, and after a few days of enjoyment Weladrel and Eliza parted ways amicably. Weladrel had come to Westcrown to continue his exploration as a member of the Pathfinder society. He had tried to maintain a low profile since Pathfinders had been exiled from the city years before, but a jealous suitor of Eliza’s reported him to the HellKnights and he had to flee into the night. 9 months later, Wex was born.

Eliza continued to work as a barmaid and raise Wex on her own. When Wex was 5, Weladrel returned once again and once again had to flee, but not before he was introduced to his son for the first time. Weladrel was surprised and it is unclear if he fled because the authorities were truly after him, or if he used that as an excuse to remove himself quickly from an awkward situation. As time passed though, he would send Wex letters, updating him on his adventures with the Pathfinder Society. Wex loved receiving those letters and to this day, has kept every one of them. As a result of these letters and Wex’s feelings towards his absent father, he has become extremely interested in all things Pathfinder, especially Delvehaven, the place his father had failed to successfully explore.

When Wex was 7, Eliza married a local human merchant (he is human, he did not sell them) named Mikkel Mavden, a widower with two daughters of his own, Anya, 10, and Vecka, 8. Mikkel owned the Mavden Mercantile Association, which was a grand name for a fairly small shop in the merchant’s district of Westcrown. 2 years after the marriage, twin boys, Mikhail and Maximo, were born, followed a few years later by a daughter named Emma.

Mikkel was a good man, and a loving step-father to Wex. Mikkel made it a point to make sure Wex knew he was a part of the Mavden family even if Wex never took his last name. Wex treasured this, but also knew that even though his family loved him, he was not the same as them, for he was over six feet tall, with red hair and pointed ears, and they were all under six feet, so far, and each and every one of them had black hair. Wex was aware as well, that being a half-elf meant he would outlive his entire family, which meant for him, that the future generations of Mavdens were his to look out for, and the best way to do this was ensure economic security through Mavden Mercantile Association.

With 6 children to care for, Mikkel and Eliza worked tirelessly, Mikkel in his shop and Eliza as a barmaid. Wex realized early on that Mavden Mercantile Association was not a big enough concern to be able provide a job for every member of the family, not without a larger influx of cash and less mouths to feed. So he paid close attention for ways to cut down on the overhead and aid Mikkel in any way he could.

Wex discovered that Mikkel occasionally had difficulty collecting on debts owed him. When this occurred, Mikkel would hire a firm called the Collectors Conclave. It was a loose collection of people who would run down the debtor for Mikkel for a percentage of the debt owed. This Conclave was run by an old dwarf named Grunyar Stonefoot. Wex had known Grunyar since he was born, since Grunyar was a regular at the tavern Eliza worked at. So when Wex was 16, he asked Grunyar to apprentice him, with the idea of learning the tricks to the trade so he could provide the service to Mikkel as a way to help out.

Wex learned that the Collectors Conclave did more than just collect debts for merchants, they would also collect on bounties that the Dottari did not have the time or resources to take on. That could range from tracking down low-level fugitives to hunting and killing various beasts that were being a nuisance to the city, but were a tad bigger and fiercer than the local exterminator was prepared to deal with.

The Collectors Conclave could also act as the third party in dealings between noble houses that wished to maintain a level of anonymity. If money was owed, but the noble houses did not want to make things official by using their own people, they would, on occasion reach out and ask the Conclave to step in for plausible deniablity.

Wex loved his apprenticeship and working for the Conclave. He learned many things from Grunyar, how to track and hunt in a city both above and below ground. How to fight, how to negotiate, and most importantly the power of patience.

After his apprenticeship, Wex became a Collector himself, and through the Conclave’s Family Discount was able to provide Mikkel with debt collection for a mere pittance, that Wex paid for himself, out of the other monies he earned as a Collector.

As time went by, with everyone pitching in, the Mavden Mercantile Association started to become, prosperous is not the right word, more like having the ability to see prosperity down the road.

Anya married a trader and joined her caravan and acted as a buyer for the MMA, allowing Mikkel to expand his wares and bring in the occasional exotic item.

Vecka is training to be a metalsmith, with the idea of selling her goods out of the shop once she establishes herself.

The twins are learning how to run the shop under Mikkel’s watchful eye and talk excitedly about expanding one day.

Emma is 13, and everyone is just waiting for that to pass.

As the years rolled by, the letters from Wex’s father continued to fill his head with the wild adventures that could be had working for the Pathfinder’s Society. His dream is to one day join them and venture out of Westcrown. Wex knew though, that at 25, he is considered to be extremely young for a half-elf, and that he has time to pursue that dream. What he considers to be more important is to make sure his family is on solid economic footing before he leaves.

A few days ago, he received a package from his father, in it he found a letter stating that Weladrel was no longer going to be an active explorer, that he was moving into the more administrative arm of the society as a result of some form of “health issue”, he recommended that Wex pursue his dream of becoming a Pathfinder, and as a token of his love and affection has sent Wex his Wayfinder to aid him in reaching his goals and a suggestion that exploring Delvehaven might help Wex get his name on the Pathfinder Society’s scrolls a bit faster.

Wex, emboldened by these words and one of the few gifts he had ever received from his absent father, is now considering upping his time-table, with the reasoning that he could probably find enough treasure to allow his family to open up a bigger shop, or more shops, or the ability to move to a more prosperous, less dangerous city, thus freeing him from his self-imposed sense of duty towards his family.